rear fog lights

38945 Views 94 Replies 25 Participants Last post by jogosub, Jun 25, 2013

upflying

Discussion Starter · Dec 20, 2012

Winter and fog seems to be a good time to discuss this. Anyone use them and if so where, what and how is it mounted?
Here is a photo gallery..
https://www.google.com/search?q=Rea...44.2115.0j11j2.13.0...0.0...1ac.1.T4ZaIT5g9iA

21 - 40 of 95 Posts

upflying

Discussion Starter · #21 · Dec 25, 2012

Good point Mcb, do not use rear fogs except in low vis conditions.

connorlikesbikes

· #22 · Dec 25, 2012

Thanks for your opinions guys, but that wasn't what we were asking for. I agree 100% that they can be a huge hindrance in clear weather, but in a white out snow storm or thick fog(which we experience all the time here in California's central valley), the extra 15 feet of visibility can save you a rear bumper, and hours in a body shop.

mcbrew

· #23 · Dec 26, 2012

I'm not saying there isn't a time and place to use them... Just that I see more of them on when they aren't called for than I do in the fog.

satellite65

· #24 · Dec 26, 2012

NinjaTurtle2.5 said:
My Jaguar X-Type Sport had rear fog lights, they were built right in and connected to the main lighting control on the dash.

It was an American spec car, bought and drove here.

My 05 Jaguar X-Type Sport Wagon was the same way.
I really found no use for the rear fog lights other than for returning the favor for a-holes behind me using fog lights in the absence of fog. That really pisses me off, because many modern fog lights are brighter than headlights. Rear fogs were also useful for getting tailgaters to back-off.

No fog? TURN YOUR FOG LIGHTS OFF!!!

30917

· #25 · Dec 27, 2012

mcbrew said:
I really, REALLY want to smash people's rear fog lights out when they drive with them on all the time. I follow a lot of BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus cars with the rear fogs on in perfectly clear weather. At night, it can be blinding. I got over people's using front fog lights all the time... Most American drivers call them 'driving' lights and think they should be on all the time. The rest of us (Americans) think that parking lights are driving lights. I guess they don't teach this stuff too well in driving school.

There are drivers-ed schools in this country???

At the rate of about 93 people a day, with which we kill each-other off on the roads, I would be shocked if there were....
Just yesterday I was behind an idiot with a rear fog light on and the driver was too busy on the cell phone to notice the warning light on the dash. God forbid that this would interfere with texting...:3:

upflying

Discussion Starter · #26 · Dec 28, 2012

Keep in mind some vehicle manufacturers use the front fog lights as daytime running lights which cannot be turned off.

crmartin9

· #27 · Jun 9, 2013

Has anyone succeeded in getting the rear fog reflectors opened? I bought an extra one with my last order from an online Subaru parts dealer to experiment. I tried to use a relatively standard procedure that folks use to open up their headlight assemblies (225 degrees F in the oven) and they started to melt after about 20 min. I had no luck in getting the two sides to separate - it appears that the red and grey plastic are actually welded or melted together not glued.

JCBERB

· #28 · Jun 10, 2013

They are ultrasonic welded I think. I had planned to dremel them open and install led panels from VLED. Then seal them back up with the sealant used for headlights. I have all the parts just havent gotten to it yet. But more then likely you may have to take a cutting tool to them to get them open

crmartin9 said:
Has anyone succeeded in getting the rear fog reflectors opened? I bought an extra one with my last order from an online Subaru parts dealer to experiment. I tried to use a relatively standard procedure that folks use to open up their headlight assemblies (225 degrees F in the oven) and they started to melt after about 20 min. I had no luck in getting the two sides to separate - it appears that the red and grey plastic are actually welded or melted together not glued.

vic

· #29 · Jun 10, 2013

upflying said:
Winter and fog seems to be a good time to discuss this. Anyone use them and if so where, what and how is it mounted?
Here is a photo gallery..
https://www.google.com/search?q=Rea...44.2115.0j11j2.13.0...0.0...1ac.1.T4ZaIT5g9iA
The Effectiveness of Rear Fog Lights [HD] - YouTube

rear fogs are used in european countries, since longtime ago....never seen it here on north america

jogosub

· #30 · Jun 10, 2013

5

I installed/wired red fog light same as OEM Subarus have it in EU; i.e. in the left backup light. It's now "red" and used as rear fog light. See my installation instructions elsewhere on this forum. The bulb is bright (921 LED 14 red) and works great - you'll get noticed!! I also "increased" brightness (921 white LED 19) of the right backup bulb to more than double of the existing OEM. Bulbs are from VLeds.com.
See pics below!
Budaru installed an outside red rear fog light that he mounted under the rear bumper, that is yet another alternative solution.

See less See more

jogosub

· #31 · Jun 10, 2013

BTW - by replacing left rear backup light with rear fog light you don't really lose any illumination for backup camera. Those backup lights serve more less just as warning for others, when you backing up in parking lots, etc. When I back up in those scenarios I put on my rear red fog light as well and that gives more warning than just using conventional backup lights.

jogosub

· #32 · Jun 10, 2013

scoobydoo2 said:
Not sure but I believe the Euro model and maybe even the JDM have lights in that space. This looks promising.

2013 Euromodels (Outbacks) have it in the rear left backup light...I know that for sure!

Budaru

· #33 · Jun 11, 2013

jogosub said:
Budaru installed an outside red rear fog light that he mounted under the rear bumper, that is yet another alternative solution.

Yes, I purchased an LED rear fog light from Amazon and installed it under the bumper on the left. The only hassle was running a hot wire from the dash to the light in the back, but it was easy to fish without taking everything apart. The light is on a switch that I mounted on a switch blank on the left side of the dash.

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rasterman

· #34 · Jun 11, 2013

Every time this thread gets bumped I'm reminded of the Top Gear episode where the guys build a car fit for 'older drivers.' The dashboard features a very prominent rear fog light switch. Clarkson then lifts up the panel it's mounted to and reveals that the switch isn't connected to anything at all.

I haven't seen it clipped on youtube yet, still hoping...

Budaru

· #35 · Jun 11, 2013

connorlikesbikes said:
Grabbed my GoPro, and went and did some 'vestigatin. Here's what I found...
This is what the back of the reflector looks like.
That hole looks perfect to mount an LED in...

Also, it's hollow. There's probably a quarter inch gap between the "cover" and the actual reflective surface on the back.

Then, on the bumper itself, there's a thru hole, to pass the wiring through.

It's almost like Subaru designed the car for this, either as standard equipment in some places, or as an easy mod.

I like this idea a lot and plan to investigate it myself. It looks like there's room to install one of those flat LED arrays and bring the wire out the hole. Two things bother me about it though:

- are those flat LED panels bright enough?
- Since the red lens is made to reflect light from the outside, how much of the LED light would pass though it from the back, or would it just glow?

One other thought would be to use a bright LED bulb like Jogosub did and mount it behind. You'd need to cut off some of the plastic backing and maybe a bit of the bumper plastic behind the light, and then glue a light socket with enclosure behind everything to make it weatherproof. That may work too, depending on access behind. Hopefully one of use will figure this out. Then I'd move my wiring from the external rear fog I have now, to the new fog light behind the reflector.

jogosub

· #36 · Jun 11, 2013

Budaru: In my opinion the flat LED panel bulb will not be strong enough. And the real strong/bright LED bulb is too tall/long to fit in that reflector cluster.
In order to achieve the same brightness as "brake" bulb, you would have to put at least white LED 19 (from VLeds) there because, typically, rear fog lights are the same strength/brightness as "brake" bulb/lights; i.e. appx 21W ! Flat panel LED would indeed just "glow".... basically the same LED bulbs that you and I have in the backup lights....

hoppyjr

· #37 · Jun 11, 2013

Budaru said:
I like this idea a lot and plan to investigate it myself. It looks like there's room to install one of those flat LED arrays and bring the wire out the hole. Two things bother me about it though:

- are those flat LED panels bright enough?
- Since the red lens is made to reflect light from the outside, how much of the LED light would pass though it from the back, or would it just glow?

One other thought would be to use a bright LED bulb like Jogosub did and mount it behind. You'd need to cut off some of the plastic backing and maybe a bit of the bumper plastic behind the light, and then glue a light socket with enclosure behind everything to make it weatherproof. That may work too, depending on access behind. Hopefully one of use will figure this out. Then I'd move my wiring from the external rear fog I have now, to the new fog light behind the reflector.

While I can't speak to the second question (shining through reflector) I can address the first question - the LED panels are extremely bright! I had a chance to see that when I was up at VLED's last week with my son's Audi. Good stuff. :29:

JCBERB

· #38 · Jun 12, 2013

The VLed panels are bright enough. Have one of the 12 led 6watt panels to insert into the bumper reflectors. Light goes through very well. I will attempt to take a pic this week of the light in the reflector. Have tocut them open first

Budaru

· #39 · Jun 12, 2013

JCBERB said:
The VLed panels are bright enough. Have one of the 12 led 6watt panels to insert into the bumper reflectors. Light goes through very well. I will attempt to take a pic this week of the light in the reflector. Have tocut them open first

Great! Thanks for letting us know that it works. If you have a moment, I'd appreciate further details on the cutting, installation, and maybe a photo or two. I've already ordered a spare reflector so I have a backup, and I ordered a led panel as well, so I'll be ready o go soon.

I am also curious whether your led panel is red or white. There seems to be some disagreement on whether putting red or white under a red lens looks better.

Thanks!

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

crmartin9

· #40 · Jun 13, 2013

I'm also looking forward to hearing how the modification and dissection of the rear bumper reflectors goes. I had planned out a mod to incorporate signal and break lights into the rear reflectors by wiring them up to the connections available from the trailer harness connector. I was going to try using P/N 1157-PCB-R36 from Superbrightleds.com, but hit a roadblock with my inability to open up the reflectors to insert the LED panels.

Thanks in advance for reporting out on your exploratory surgery!

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